I'm Beginning To Dread July 15

One year ago this evening, Friday, July 15, 2005, I decided to go up to the Castro. I parked on Noe street, visited the Badlands and Midnight Sun and ended up running into a friend with whom I chatted for the rest of the evening. About 12:30 or so it's time to go. My friend is a little tipsy, so I offer him a ride home. He agrees, and we hop into my car and take off. I got about a block before I realized something was wrong.

It turns out that my front two tires had been slashed.

Fortunately, I have AAA. Unfortunately, the level of service I had provided free towing for only a few miles (my home in Mountain View is about 30 miles from the Castro). So they towed my car to Ted & Al's Service on Fell St., and my friend let me crash at his place.

The next morning, I got a call from the shop with the estimate for new tires. It turns out that all four tires were pretty worn, so I needed to get them all replaced. I knew, when I sold my Honda Civic and bought my Audi, that I would pay more for service. But even so, the price of the new tires were still twice as expensive as I would have thought.

Still, what are you going to do^*?

So I said yes, replace the tires. I hung out with my friend for most of the morning, then picked up my car in the early afternoon. I have tried to baby the tires: I check the pressure every month and get the tires rotated every 5,000 miles (though I sometimes have to argue with the Jiffy Lube people who think every 10,000 miles is adequate).

Fast forward to this morning, exactly one year and 15,000 miles later. I've had a rhythmic thumping coming from one of my tires for a couple of weeks, so I take it to the local Wheel Works. Guess what? The tires I got a year ago are worn out! Even better, the tires were manufactured in 1999 and not appropriate for the car! Even better yet, they'll put new tires with a 40K warranty on my car for $100 less than Ted & Al's did!

[Fume]

So I say okay. They'll be done before noon.

^*Two things, actually: 1) I upgraded my AAA membership to "AAA Plus". That extends the free towing range to 100 miles. 2) When go to the Castro, I now park my car on a side street north of Market, outside the normal "flow" of foot traffic.